NEDA Board Approves REFUEL Food Stamp Project to Combat Hunger

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board, chaired by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., has approved the Reducing Food Insecurity and Undernutrition with Electronic Vouchers (REFUEL) Project to combat hunger and malnutrition in the Philippines.

The approval came during the NEDA Board’s final meeting on April 23 before it transitions into the Economy and Development (ED) Council under Republic Act No. 12145, which takes effect on April 27, 2025.

“By approving the REFUEL project, the government demonstrates its unwavering commitment to fight food insecurity and undernutrition,” NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said.

“The program reflects a renewed focus toward ending involuntary hunger, uplifting vulnerable communities, and promoting resilience through smart, nutrition-sensitive social protection,” he added.

REFUEL enhances the former Philippine Food Strategic Transfer and Alternative Measures Program (STAMP) and remains a key initiative under the Walang Gutom (Zero Hunger) 2027 Food Stamp Program led by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

According to the 2023 National Nutrition Survey by the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute, three in every 10 Filipino households experience moderate to severe food insecurity, while three out of every 100 households face severe food insecurity.

The project aims to scale up the Walang Gutom Program from 2025 to 2028, targeting 750,000 food-insecure households identified through the DSWD’s Listahanan 3 database, while continuing to support beneficiaries from the previous Philippine Food STAMP.

“The project’s goal is to strengthen our shock-responsive social protection systems by ensuring the timely delivery of food vouchers to Filipinos in need, particularly those facing hunger and nutritional challenges in the face of increasing climate and disaster risks,” Balisacan said.

REFUEL will be implemented from July 2025 to July 2028, building on the pilot rollout of the former Philippine Food STAMP program that started late last year.

The project is estimated to cost PHP74.6 billion, funded by the Asian Development Bank, Agence Française de Développement, and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Fund for International Development.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) presented the results of the 2024 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) to the NEDA Board during the meeting.

Balisacan emphasized that REFUEL would also support human capital development by improving basic and functional literacy as part of the country’s broader socio-economic goals.

In addition to approving REFUEL, the NEDA Board also greenlighted the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System’s request for an increased project cost, a change in scope, and an extension of the loan validity and implementation period for the New Centennial Water Source – Kaliwa Dam Project.

The updated total project cost for the Kaliwa Dam now stands at PHP15.3 billion, with the facility expected to provide an additional 600 million liters of raw water daily to Metro Manila and the provinces of Rizal and Cavite.

As of December 2024, construction progress on the Kaliwa Dam project reached 24.8 percent.

The NEDA Board also approved an updated list of the government’s Infrastructure Flagship Projects, raising the number from 186 to 207 projects, with eight major initiatives already completed since 2023.